Kitch-iti-kipi pushes more than 10,000 gallons of water a minute up through cracks in the limestone, and the water holds at 45 degrees whether it is July or January. The Big Spring at Palms Book State Park, at the north end of Indian Lake outside Manistique, is where you ride a raft to look at a hole in the ground. Right now that raft is going nowhere. The DNR lists the self-propelled observation raft as out of service because of a mechanical issue with the drive system.
You can still get on it. The DNR notice says visitors are welcome to step aboard and view Kitch-iti-kipi through the observation port, which is the whole reason anyone drives to Sawmill Road. Replacement parts have been ordered, and the department says it expects to announce a completion date soon. No date was posted as of this writing.
What you see through the port has not changed. The DNR describes ancient tree trunks, lime-encrusted branches and lake trout visible through crystal-clear water far below, with clouds of sand kept in constant motion by the gushing water. The pool has an emerald green bottom.
What the Kitch-iti-kipi raft actually is
The DNR’s current page calls it a self-propelled, self-guided observation raft, accessible, and for viewing purposes only. A 2019 DNR bulletin says work crews constructed the first raft over the oval-shaped spring, and that a viewing well in the deck lets riders watch sand boiling out of the bottom.
That is the part with the drive problem. The raft is the only way to get out over the water, since the DNR bans boats and anything else entering the spring. So a dead drive system means a raft parked at the shore with a window in its floor, which still beats most views a park pass buys.
How a logging dump became a state park
John I. Bellaire, a Manistique merchant, became a devoted fan of the Big Spring in the early 1920s, according to the Schoolcraft County Historical Society. The DNR says he first found it being used as a logging camp dump. Bellaire worked with Frank Book, a partner in the Palms Book Land Company of Detroit, to arrange the sale of 90 acres including the spring to the State of Michigan for $10. The deed required the land to be forever designated a state park bearing the name Palms Book State Park.
Northern Michigan University’s archives put the sale in 1926. Later land acquisitions and exchanges brought the park to a total of 308 acres, per the DNR. A 1929 newspaper account reprinted by Radio Results Network put it at 45 feet deep and about 200 feet across, while a 1955 Escanaba Daily Press story called it a 40-foot pool. The DNR’s current page gives no depth at all. The legend attached to the name was Bellaire’s own invention, a story we have told before.
The rules, which have not been relaxed
The DNR prohibits swimming, bathing, skin diving, scuba diving, fishing and boating in the Big Spring. You also cannot launch or place any object in the water, and the department specifically names underwater cameras. Drones are prohibited over the raft. The raft is for viewing only, broken drive or not.
If you go: Palms Book State Park, 1380 Sawmill Road, Manistique, at the northern end of M-149, 7 miles northwest of Indian Lake State Park. The observation raft is open 8 a.m. to dusk. A Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry: $15 for Michigan residents when bought at license plate renewal through the Secretary of State, with a $5 convenience fee added if you buy it later. Nonresidents pay $42 for the year or $12 for the day. Our Go See It page for Kitch-iti-kipi, with directions and the season, is here.
The water will still be 45 degrees and still be moving when the raft is fixed. The motor was never the view.
Go See It
Kitch-iti-kipi (The Big Spring), Palms Book State Park
- Hours
- 8:00 a.m. to dusk, daily.
- Cost
- Free to view; a Michigan Recreation Passport is required for vehicle entry to the state park.
- Season
- Year-round; the concession stand and restrooms run seasonally.
- Drive
- From Marquette: 1 hr 33 min (88.3 mi) via US-41 S and US-2 E
From the Bridge: 1 hr 43 min (102 mi) via US-2 W
More worth reading
Sources, credits, and reporting details
Sources & accountability
How this story was reported
Editorial methodService and public-interest reporting
Last verifiedOct. 19, 2026
Corrections statusNo material correction note is recorded on this article.
AI assistanceResearched and drafted with AI tools. Reviewed and approved by editor Keegan O’Brien.
Verification note: Written October 19, 2026 for the 2026-10-25 edition; sources read and checked Oct. 19, 2026. AI-assisted drafting, staff desk piece.
Primary sources
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: more than 10,000 gallons a minute through limestone fissures, constant 45 degrees
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "with more than 10,000 gallons of water per minutes gushing through fissures in the underlying limestone at a constant 45 degrees Fahrenheit."
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: park at north end of Indian Lake; home to Kitch-iti-kipi
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "Palms Book State Park, located at the north end of Indian Lake in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, is home to Kitch-iti-kipi or "The Big Spring.""
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: northern terminus of M-149, 7 miles NW of Indian Lake State Park
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "The park is located 7 miles northwest of Indian Lake State Park in Manistique, along the northern terminus of M-149."
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: raft out of service, drive system mechanical issue
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "The self-propelled observation raft at Palms Book State Park is currently out of service due to a mechanical issue with the drive system."
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: visitors may still board and view through observation port
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "However, visitors are still welcome to step aboard and view Kitch-iti-kipi through the observation port."
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: parts ordered, completion date to be announced soon
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "Replacement parts have been ordered, and we expect a completion date to be announced soon."
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: raft open 8 a.m. to dusk
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "The self-propelled observation raft is open 8 a.m. to dusk."
-
Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "Swimming, bathing, skin diving, scuba diving, fishing, boating, and the launching or placing of any objects (including underwater cameras) in The Big Spring are prohibited."
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: drones prohibited over raft; raft for viewing only; self-guided, accessible
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "Drones are prohibited over the raft. / The self-guided observation raft is accessible. / The raft is for viewing purposes only."
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: Recreation Passport required for vehicle entry
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "A Recreation Passport (park pass) is required for vehicle entry into all state park and forest campgrounds."
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: address
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "1380 Sawmill Road Manistique, Michigan, 49854"
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Palms Book State Park — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "Ancient tree trunks, lime-encrusted branches and lake trout can be seen through crystal-clear waters far below. Clouds of sand kept in constant motion by gushing waters create ever-changing shapes and forms."
-
Recreation Passport — Michigan DNR
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: $15 resident at plate renewal; $5 convenience fee otherwise; nonresident $42 annual, $12 daily
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "Vehicles $15 when purchased at time of license plate registration renewal through the Secretary of State / A $5 convenience fee (except for Belle Isle Park) is added when the Recreation Passport is not purchased / Annual $42 / Daily $12"
Additional reporting
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Showcasing the DNR: Profiling two state park gems — Michigan DNR (GovDelivery bulletin)
Published Jun. 21, 2019. Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "John I. Bellaire found it as a logging camp dump / to sell 90 acres around the spring to the state for $10 / Additional land acquisitions and exchanges brought the park to a total of 308 acres. / Work crews constructed the first raft here over the oval-shaped spring."
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John Ira Bellaire – Retailer, Conservationist and Historian — Schoolcraft County Historical Society (Larry Peterson)
Published May. 7, 2016. Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "It was in the early 1920's that Bellaire became a devoted fan of the Big Spring. / in cooperation with Frank Book, who was a partner in the Palms Book Land Company of Detroit / arranged for the sale of 90 acres of land including the spring to the State of Michigan for $10.00. / The land was to be forever designated as a state park bearing the name, Palms Book State Park."
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Kitch-iti-kipi (Big Spring) Collection — Northern Michigan University archives (UPLINK)
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Supports: sale to state in 1926; became Palms Book State Park
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "The Palms Book Land Company sold the spring to the state of Michigan in 1926, and it became Palms Book State Park."
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Schoolcraft County's Kitch-iti-kipi 'Big Spring' Freezes Over — Radio Results Network
Published Mar. 19, 2021. Accessed Oct. 19, 2026.
Fetched Oct 19, 2026: "The 'Big Spring,' which received its name from an old legend, is 45 feet in depth and about 200 feet across. / to the depth of the 40-foot pool, the newspaper said."
Photo and media credits
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Kitch-iti-kipi, the Big Spring, at Palms Book State Park near Manistique — Wikimedia Commons / Notorious4life
Featured image record. Accessed Oct. 19, 2026. CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en.
Supports: Featured image: Kitch-iti-kipi, the Big Spring, at Palms Book State Park near Manistique
Media ID 4415; resized to 2000px; credit in caption and alt
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Trout over the bottom of Kitch-iti-kipi, seen through the clear water — Wikimedia Commons / Arvind Govindaraj
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026. CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0.
Supports: Body image 2: Trout over the bottom of Kitch-iti-kipi, seen through the clear water
Media ID 4416; resized to 2000px; credit in caption and alt
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The observation raft leaving the dock at Kitch-iti-kipi — Wikimedia Commons / All Things Michigan
Accessed Oct. 19, 2026. CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0.
Supports: Body image 3: The observation raft leaving the dock at Kitch-iti-kipi
Media ID 4417; resized to 2000px; credit in caption and alt
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